Hydraulic disruption of solids



NOV. i7, E942. W F. CQURT 2,302,299-

HYDRALIC DISRUPTION OF SOLIDS Filed Nov. 12, 1946 zsheets-sneei- 1 Nov. 17, 1942. w. F. acum' HYDRAULIC DISRUPTION OF SOLIDS Filed Nov. l2, 1940 A2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. DI XnQenor William Frederick Cour? 5g ha Arorneq..

Patented Nov. 17, 1942 HYDRAULIC DISRUPTION F SOLIDS William Frederick Court, Bronxville, N. Y., as-

signor to Shell Development Company, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application November 12,1940, Serial No. 365,263`

l(Cl. 141-1) 4 claims.

This invention relatesv to the cleaning of vessels which contain solids. like carbonaceous material, particularly deposits of coke produced by the carbonization ofhydrocarbon oils, such as reaction and coking chambers employed in petroleum cracking plants and the like and asphaltic material, especiallythe solid, brittle kind. While the apparatus may be applied to the removal of various types of carbonaceous material from diverse forms of apparatus, it is particularly useful `for the removal of porous coke ofthe type produced by heat contained within the body of the oil. For convenience, in the following description tne application of the apparatus to thev cleaning of a vertical reaction or coking chamber of thetype used in connection with a so-called Dubbs cracking unit will be described, it being understood that the apparatus maybe applied as well to a horizontal reaction chamber, and to containers of other shapes, as well as to the remnval of similar type of porous coke or asphaltic materials from containers or conduits in which coke has been deposited due to the carbonization of oil by external as well as internal heat.

The conventional method of removing petroleum coke from cracking plant reaction or coking chambers involves -hanging a steel cable in a series of spirals inside the chamber before the unit is placed in operation, and the withdrawal of the cable after the termination of a run by means of a steam hoist. The withdrawal of thecable partially breaks up the body of coke,- discharging quantities' through a manhole. Following this, several men enter the chamber and remove the coke adhering to the chamber walls with pickaxes. Such a method is objectionable in that it is time consuming, since the chamber must be cooled to a point at which men can work within it; it is hazardous to workmen; and iron 'wire used to suspend the steel cable is withdrawn together with the coke, rendering it useless for many purposes without subsequent operations for separating pieces of metal.

vIt is the purpose of the present invention to provide improved apparatus for removing carbonaceous. materials, such as coke and the like from containers, which is less laborious than those heretofore employed, consumes less time, is more economical and is less hazardous than methods now employed.

Itis a further object to provide hydraulic apparatus for removing coke and the like in which the coke will be free from metallic bodies. Still another object is to provide a novel yapparatus for carrying out the process herein described. Other objects of thevinvention will 4become apparent from the following specication, taken v together with the drawings forming a part thereof, in which a representative embodiment of the process is illustrated. it being understood that the process is not limited to the specific steps illustrated, nor to the cleaning of chambers of the particular type or shape shown.

In the drawings. Figure I is an elevation, partly in section, of a reaction chamber showingthe disposition oi nozzlesand headers as used in the present invention. Figure II is an enlarged sectional view of the cutting nozzle assembly. Figure4 III illustrates a swivel joint arrangement suitable for connecting a nozzle assembly as shown in Figure II to a source of water under high pressure.

The' present invention is based on the discovery that carbonacecus materials of the type del scribed above can be eiiicaciously broken up 'and removed from containers by the action of a jet of water directed so as to have a cutting action on the deposit of carbonaceous, material. This is effected by directing the water by means of a suitably designed nozzle so as to cause a great impact or reaction on the body of the solid to be removed over as small an area as possible. In this manner the primary action of the water is to cut the solid material into lumps, and erosion is minimized. For the cutting or disruption operation, I prefer to employ Water jets which have velocities of more than about 200 feet per second, best results being obtained with velocities y,of about 300 to 500 feet per second and higher, and which are confined. By coniined jets, I mean jets which do not substantially break up or f spread prior to impact. It is, moreover, desir.- able to employ jets of suiiicient size to cause an impact of more than lbs., best results being f obtained with jets having impacts of betweenl 200 and 300 lbs. or greater. 'When lower velocities are employed, -or when the `design of the nozzle is such as to cause the jet to break up the cutting action is materially reduced and erosion is increased. This materially increases the vtime required for the removal of the solid and is, moreover, often undesirable. since it is frequently advantageout to produce maximum'lump and egg size coke. As an example, I may .employ a jet V of water from a inch in diameter nozzle, with a velocity of 760 feet per second. Such a jet will cause an impact of about 424 lbs. over an area only slightly larger than 0.11 sq. in., the opening of the nozzle. I am, however, notrrestricted to the specic examples herein disclosed.

Referring to Figure I, l represents -a coking chamber of the common type, except thatfa plurality'of nozzle manholes as at 2 are provided on each side of the chamber, each nozzle manhole being positioned opposite a similar nozzle manhole on the opposite side of the chamber. Blind -anges 3 Aremovably aixed, are provided to close the nozzle manholes 2 during cracking operations in the chamber. The chamber is also of course supplied with the usual top and bottom manholes 4 and 5.

Two highpressure water headers 6 and l, including a plurality of take-off T's as at 8, corresponding in number to the nozzle manholes 2, are provided as illustrated.

In Figure II, the nozzle assembly comprises a special ange and ball socket 9; this supports a ball I Il adapted for universal movement therein. The ball IU in turn supports a supply line II and cutting nozzle I2, both of which may be detached therefrom. Slot I3 which is provided in ball Ill and pin I4 which is mounted in ange and ball socket 9 serve to limit the horizontal rotation of nozzle I2. Similarly, slot I5 and pin I6 limit the maximum vertical movement of the nozzle.

The swivel arrangement of Figure III serves to supply water from headers 6 and 'I to the cutting nozzle assemblies. A coupling I1 connects one of the header take-off Ts 8 with a feed pipe I8 of suitable length. A valve I9, as shown in Figure I, is disposed between coupling I1 and take-off T 8. Elbow 20, nipple 2I, swivel joint 22, nipple 23, swivel joint 24, nozzle 25, swivel joint 26, nozzle 21, swivel joint 28, nipple 29 and swivel and ball socket 9 to enable adjustmentof the` disposition of cutting nozzle I2.

The method of removing coke according to thel present invention, according to the preferred mode of operation, comprises iirst removing the cover from the lower manhole 5, the blind flange 3 on the bottom two nozzle manholes 2 then being removed, the coke that has formed within the nozzle manholes being barred out by hand sulficiently to permit mounting a pair of cutting nozzle assemblies such as shown in Figure II. 'I'hese ilrst two nozzle assemblies are then each connected to a high pressure header 6 and 1, valves I9 opened and the cutting operations started. Due to the ball mounting of the cutting nozzles and swivel connection between the high pressure headers and the nozzles, the operator may play the streams. over an effective cutting zone as shown in Figure I. l

While the first two nozzle assemblies are cutting coke in the lower first stage, a second pair of nozzle assemblies are mounted in the next stage (opposing pair of nozzle manholes) above and these placed in cutting operation' as soon as the first two nozzles have nished cutting. While the nozzles inthe second stage are cutting, the rst pair will be moved to the third stage. This is continued until all of the coke is removed, and by this sequence of operations only four cutting manholes in each side of the coking chamber will be found to provide satisfactory cleanout coverage.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus suitablefor hydraulic disruption of coke in a coking chamber comprising a group of manholes uniformly spaced in the wall of said coking chamber in vertical alignment, a second group of manholes in said coking chamber wall uniformly spaced opposite said rst group of manholes and in axial alignment therewith, cutting nozzle means adapted for removable mounting in said manholes, said cutting nozzle means being adapted and constructed to permit universal axial adjustment thereof, a conduit spaced from and extending along the 4elevation of said coking" chamber in alignment with said rst group of manholes, a plurality of outlet means disposed along the length of said conduit, flexible conduit means between said outlet means and said cutting nozzle means mounted in said first group of manholes, a second conduit spaced from and extending along the elevation of said coking chamber in alignment with said second group of manholes, a plurality of outlet means disposed 'along the length vof said second conduit and flexible conduit means between said last named outlet means and said cutting nozzle means mounted in said second group of manholes.

2. Apparatus suitable for hydraulic disruption of coke in a-coking chamber comprising a Vgroup of manholes uniformly spaced apart in the wall of said coking chamber along the elevation vthereof, cutting nozzle means adapted for removable mounting in said manholes, said cutting nozzle means being adapted and constructed to permit universal axial adjustment thereof, a conduit spaced from and extending along the elevation of said coking chamber, a plurality of outlet means disposed along the length of said conduit, and flexible conduit means between said outlet means and said cutting nozzle means.

nozzle'assemblies will be required. Of course, it

sumeienny with adjacent and opposite zones to completely encompass the interior of the coking vessel. For example, in a coking chamber 13 feet in diameter and 50 feet high, wherein nozzle assembliescapable of playing over an angle of approximately 45 are to be used eight nozzle 3. Apparatus suitable for hydraulic disruption said coking chamber along the elevation thereof, cutting nozzle means adapted for removable mounting in said manholes, said cutting nozzle means being adapted and constructed to permit universal axial adjustment thereof to a limited degree but suilcient to define a conical eii'ective cutting zone having a base diameter at least twice the distance between two adjacent manholes, a conduit spaced from and extending along the elevation of said coking chamber, a plurality of outlet means disposed along the lengt'. of said conduit and exible conduit means between said outlet means and said cutting nozzle means.

4. Apparatus suitable for hydraulic disruption of coke in a coking chamber comprising a group of manholes spaced apart in the wall of said coking chamber along the elevation thereof, cutting nozzle means adapted for removable 'mounting in said manholes, said cutting nozzle means being adapted and constructed to permit universal axial adjustment thereof, a conduit spaced from and extending along the elevation of said coking chamber, a plurality of outlet means disposed along the length of said conduit, means for supplying liquid under pressure to said conduit and flexible means for conveying liquid under pressure from said outlet means in said conduit to said cutting nozzle means.

WILLIAM FREDERICK coUa'r. 

